Synopsis:

Crushed by a broken heart ten years ago, Cleo Tanner walked away from her acting dreams and now leads a quiet, secluded life in Seattle. Sylvia, her best friend from college, is trapped in a loveless marriage, distraught by her inability to conceive a child – until an adoption agency owner in relentless pursuit of Cleo offers to help.

Just as Sylvia begins to experience a profound love that only a mother can feel, a detective approaches Cleo with disturbing questions about the adoption agency. Determined to protect her friend, Cleo jumps into a dangerous investigation that forces her to confront the ghosts of her past.

Bestselling author Tess Thompson, whose debut novel Riversong touched the hearts of readers worldwide, delivers a captivating and suspenseful tale of the possibilities that await us in life and in love – if we can find the courage to get off the sidelines.

A toast to friendship, motherhood, mended hearts and new beginnings, Caramel and Magnolias reminds us it’s never too late to reawaken the heart.

In celebration of Tess’ second novel, we will be offering “Caramel and Magnolias” at a special release price of $.99. Additionally, Tess is hosting a giveaway on her blog. Readers can win a variety of prizes to help them get off the sidelines, including a Kindle Fire HD, an Adele CD, some caramel, wine or a Tess Thompson autographed Kleenex box.

My thoughts:

The beginning of this had me a tad confused but only because there are so many characters. I got them all set in my brain and was able to continue without too much trouble. There are a lot of characters but each of them are fleshed out so well, with their own faults and questions about life, wishes and loves. It was amazing to see all of these characters and such a great plot in a relatively short book. 246 pages and Tess Thompson is able to give you the ins and outs of everyone as well as bringing everything together in the end.

The two main women Cleo and Sylvia have had some major issues in their lives. Even some of the men have. There are a few things that I guessed at but it was the well given clues that I felt like Tess purposefully added into the story, and each of these clues came together. There are so many plots, not just one main road that you’re heading down and that made it even more fun, albeit it confusing at first. Funnily enough I had no clue who the bad guy was in this. Although there are clues, for some reason my brain didn’t go there. But I love not being able to guess everything in a plot so this was a nice twist. Although again, there were clues!!

This really was true to life, scary in a way because it cuts to the core of many difficult subject matters and at times it just hurts to read this but I was wondering what was going to happen so I just couldn’t stop reading! But it was one of those true to life books where you’re cringing knowing that the characters have gone through so much and wanting so much more for them.

Sylvia was probably the one I most felt connected with. Although I loved all of the characters, Sylvia was a woman that could face the things that she did wrong in life and try to work through it. But it were also her issues of not having children that really hit home for me.

This was a wonderful read. My first of Tess Thompson’s books but it will not be my last!!

About the author:

Tess Thompson Hardwick is a novelist and playwright with a BFA in Drama from the University of Southern California. Her first novel, “Riversong”, became a bestselling ebook in 2012, reaching #1 on Nook and spending 35 days in Amazon’s Top 100.

Like many of the characters in”Caramel and Magnolias”, Tess is from a small town in Oregon. She currently lives in Snoqualmie, Washington with her two young daughters, Emerson and Ella, and their puppy Patches, where she is inspired daily by the view of the Cascade Mountains from her home office window.

Tess is working on her third novel and regularly blogs about her journey as a mother, author and friend at www.tesshardwick.com.

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Copyright & Disclaimer

All novels reviewed on MySeryniti were either purchased by myself or received from the author or publisher for review. All reviews on novels received from the publisher and author will feature mention of such, all reviews on novels purchased by me will not. I do not receive compensation for writing reviews.